A little over a week ago, Exilehero posted an article questioning what reasons bloggers have for blogging. I don’t think I’ve covered this topic before so here’s a summary of my reasons for blogging.

I started Nopy’s Blog back in August of 2008 with a simple post titled “Hello world!” Little did I know that this blog I started would still be around 3.5 years later. So what made me decide to start a blog in the first place? To understand that, lets take a journey into my past, to 2005, the year I graduated from high school.

Back then, I was a regular member of the school’s anime club and all of my friends were in it. We would watch anime and argue over which series or character was better, which I really enjoyed. It all started to change when we got our high school diplomas and moved onto university. As the years passed, my friends seemed to take less of an interest in anime and moved on to other things such as complaining about life, becoming doctors, or trying to change the world. By 2008, I was the only one from my high school anime club that still watched anime regularly and it was clear that my friends weren’t interested in what I had to say about it. I looked for alternatives and found my university’s anime club. They scared me with their eccentric personalities so I slipped away before anyone noticed.

With nowhere else to turn, I decided to take up blogging thinking that there has to be at least 1 person out there that would listen to what I have to say (or I guess read what I have to write). In my first week of blogging, I got 3 views and was elated to see people reading my writing. I was even happier to see that one of those 3 viewers left the first comment on my blog, a mere 3 days after it was created. I imagine this is akin to the first cigarette that smokers experience. Once I had gotten some attention from a few people, I wanted more. I decided to continue blogging for a month just to see how many people I could reach, then it ended up being a year, then 2 years, and you know the rest. You could say that I had become addicted to attention, or as Exilehero would argue, attention whoring.

I won’t deny it, I am doing this for the attention. Where else besides the internet would I be able to discuss the meanings behind the symbols in Mawaru Penguindrum or argue how Okabe Rintarou has all the characteristics of a schizophrenic without being treated like a weirdo? There are a few other reasons for continuing to blog, including meeting people with the same interests, making a little money to pay for some Megami purchases, and simply having something to do, but I would say that attention is the driving force behind it and Exilehero was spot on with his conclusions.

If any other bloggers have some more reasons to add, feel free to share.

(In case you were wondering, yes, I did choose these images to grab your attention.)

I think I had a similar situation as you did in high school. For some reason people tend to lose interest in anime as they grow older. I also don’t know why so many anime fans are so eccentric as you say. Sometimes it’s hard for me to relate precisely because of this, even if we like the same anime or something.

Hahaha addicted to attention? Didn’t even consider that before. Attention is great! Sometimes it’s nice to see someone actually taking into consideration what one have to say and respond to it. And on a related note, thanks for answering my call and writing a post about it!exilehero recently posted..A loli with a gun – GSC’s Henrietta

I think it has to do with the amount of time people can dedicate to anime. When you’re a teenager, you can watch it whenever you want, but as an adult there’s other things you have to take care of. As for the eccentric ones, I think it’s just being influenced by their favourite characters.

I do it for the sharing aspect the most, to proclaim my opinion or show something to someone. Before I was elated to get attention from people now, not so much, now I do it because I genuinely enjoy simply taking photos or whatnot whether people look at them or not.

One exception are my figure stories, those I do for the reactions, I wanna see if I make people laugh or just scratch their heads in confusion. At the end of the day though what I enjoy the most is reading comments from you, from the people in my circle, I wanna see what you have to say. I want to keep making that circle grow.

You got my attention! ;)
Yeah. You pretty much nailed it. That’s my reason for blogging. It’s nice to share your thoughts and ideas and find people who are willing to read it. Plus, it gives me a chance to talk about anime.

Sounds about right, but again, it differs person to person. Speaking from my view point, it is to gather different opinions and speak to people I otherwise wouldn’t. There is a subtle need for attention, I would be lying if I did not it, but not for narcissistic purposes rather than generating discussion.

I originally made my blog for my figures. I’m not particularly looking for attention bur rather, I want my FIGURES to gain more attention. But eventually, other posts caught up with my figures posts and since I havent bought much recently, I rarely do those post anymore. And indeed with my current posts, I do want *coughattentioncough*Kai recently posted..Girl Friends Review

eccentric anime fans are funny, especially the wannabe smart alecs XD
I was once active on a german anime board, but soon I couldn’t take it anymore.

My main reason for blogging went from just killing time, to getting attention.
Well, I was surprised about the positive feedback at first. In general I feel awkward in the center of attention, but since Im not blogging about myself its ok.

I might have some of those wannabe smart alec qualities, but I know when to back off when people are getting annoyed with me. Being the center of attention does feel weird, but after so long, you get used to it.

I’ve been thinking about this myself quite a bit, now that my amount of free time has reduced. I’m at a point where blogging is no longer ‘something to do’ and is beginning to feel more like a hindrance to doing other things. So I’m questioning why I do it or whether it’s time to pack up.

The conclusion I’ve come to is I still enjoy posting photos of my figures, sharing my thoughts on the figures, and reading others thoughts on their figures. It’s also a nice surprise if something different pops up now and then. So if I just keep that in mind and go at a reduced pace hopefully I can continue to do what I’m doing.

Exileheros’ post is also really nice. Sums up pretty much the inner struggle that sometimes creeps up as I’m writing a blog post.

I hope that you do keep going with it, even if you can’t make as many posts. I love the photos that you take of your figures and I would hate to see you pack up. Maybe setting up a time management strategy will help :)

I think it’s all about to grab attention why people blog and post stuff publicly (if not for this, then why not just post something privately or keep a journal by yourself). It is so rewarding to think that somebody out there recognized what you have written. And most of all, the fun of socializing and talking things that you don’t really talk about IRL make bloggers blog more, at least that’s how I perceive blogging.SnippetTee recently posted..Craft of Balancing Time, An Aniblogger Testament

Nice post on sharing us the reasons why you blog Nopy. I’m a little surprised that you openly admit that you blog for attention, as this is something I know it’s frowned upon by a number of bloggers I know.

What I like about blogging is that we share information, thoughts, or feelings out. Getting to start a discussion is great too, though I always have a hard time trying to leave thoughtful comments as I take a very long time to compose the messages. What I like is how we can get to reciprocate feedback between bloggers, or bloggers to and from readers. Finding people with common or similar interests, or explore into new stuff, understanding each other. This is what makes blogging special IMHO!Q recently posted..figma Insane Black Rock Shooter preview

True, there’s a bit of attention that I want to focus on, but I’m trying to do what I can that promotes anime and manga culture…this is a start. Everything else after that was what made it rewarding…after all, I wouldn’t have found you out otherwise!Justin recently posted..Anime Review: Yamada’s First Time: B Gata H Kei

The first cigarette I smoked almost made me puke. Luckily I was able to stop before it consumed me. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong to being addicted to attention, we all crave it even if we don’t want to admit it.

I did it out of randomness, then figure.fm + Figmas. Later, I just wanted to talk to like minded folks that I couldn’t meet in my area. After that, you can now see (probably) that I’m trying to focus on Ottawa+Anime at the same time while trying to force my cards into Japan. Hmm…

Smoking? Tsk tsk, that’s bad for you! :P I won’t deny it, I’m also blogging for attention due to not receiving any in my area while attempting to share the things I like. People enjoy bullying to the point where it made the news. Probably the snow chilling everybody’s brain solid.Arctic_Kitsune recently posted..Busou Shinki Cradles – Black & White